Chess Life 2000. (nem teljes évfolyam) [antikvár]

.¦i.-i; ggiiM Tim Opinion: One Executive Board Member's Assessment This opinion piece is the first in a series of articles prompted by Board action in October 1999. These articles represent the opinions of individual Board members. Our Executive Board is as diverse in its composition as is our membership — with the same concerns we all share. The next article under this heading will be written by USCF President Bob Smith. by Tim Redman Whether you believe that January 1, 2000 marlis the start of a new millennium or not. the rollover of the anno domini odometer to two-triple-zero certainly gives pause for thought. And New Year is the traditional time for new plans and new resolutions. So it seemed appropriate that as we begin the new year in chess. 1 should inform you, the members, of where things stand in the Federation and what the newly elected Executive Board has done and plans to do. Seven members of the eight-person Board were elected in August and installed at the annual meeting of the Board of Delegates, the corporate board of the USCF. At that meeting In Reno we learned that things were seriously wrong. After an accounting adjustment required for years by the Delegates, the auditors reported an operating loss of $335,000 for the previous fiscal year. A number of key senior staff members had left or were planning to leave the New Windsor office. We were in the middle of a pension dispute with a former senior staff member. USCF indebtedness was at an all-time high. We had entered into litigation with an organizer. The new computer system, mandated by the previous Board early in 1997, had still not been installed. Total membership was at an all-time high, with scholastic and youth membership increasing, but the regular adult membership, the backbone of our organization, was declining. CRISIS MODE In response to the crisis, the Board of Delegates mandated an austerity budget. Executive Director Mike Cavallo continued his cost-cutting measures and bor- Ttm Redman, a USCF member since 1965, is a former USCF President and a curreni member of Ifie Executive Board. He can be readied al [email protected]. 6 CHESS LIFE / JANUARY 2000